Week 3 recap: Green Hornets look golden

The Hornets stayed firm on defense and unfurled a bunch of playmakers on offense. The mere fact that they played with such spark after a disappointing loss at Easton was eye-opening. Past Emmaus teams had a tendency to shrug their shoulders, sulk and allow one tough loss to lead to more defeats. This one obviously didn't pout.

I don't know if Emmaus can beat Liberty next week because the 'Canes are fast, especially at home.If they can limit Ahkeem Smith and big plays, I believe the G-Hornets can give the Hurricanes a fight, maybe one of the toughest Liberty will face during the regular season.

"We all came together in the off season and we have a lot of leaders," said Zach Beck, who scored a pair of Emmaus touchdowns, including a 35-yarder off a reverse in the first quarter. "Our coaches kept our heads on straight after the loss at Easton. It was a tough loss, but we knew it was a matter of not finishing that game. We just had to learn from our rmistakes. We've just got to play our game."

One thing about Emmaus is that they'll probably never be outcoached.

<(Joe Bottliglieri began his coaching career at Wyomissing in 1971 and has had stops at Lafayette, William & Mary, Rhode Island, Lehigh, Shippensburg, Mansfield and Allentown Central Catholic) He's now 31-24 in his sixth season at Emmaus).

Besides head man Joe Bottliglieri, who has been around football forever and at all different levels, you've got an experienced, savvy coaching staff that features a Who's Who of football veterans.

There's Stan Luckenbill and Rich Gierula, two quality guys who were associated with Whitehall for so long.

I know Joe Malone best from working with him inside the media tent during the Stellar Basketball Tournament each July at Cedar Beach and you couldn't find a better guy.

And then there's one of my all-time favorites, Fritz Halfacre, who has forgotten more football than probably 90 percent of the coaches around the Valley will ever learn.

"We're very fortunate to have this staff," Bottiglieri said. "They're not only good coaches, but they're all very good people. They have good relationships with the players and that's so important in high school football."

As for the rest of the results tonight, I was not surprised by much.

I figured Liberty would thump an injury-riddled Whitehall team and that was before quarterback Andy Polony went down.

I figured Parkland's power would be too much for Freedom, although I thought the Patriots would score more.The Trojans don't get the same hype as Easton and Liberty, but this is still a solid program team that could play into December.

<(Kevin Herod is the latest in a long line of quality backs who have flourished in Jim Morgans Wing-T attack).

Also, Central Catholic and Easton rolled as anticipated. CCHS-Freedom could be very interesting next Saturday, by the way.

In the Colonial League, I just can't seem to get Palisades right. Pick them to win twice and they lose. Pick them to lose and they beat a 2-0 Northwestern team. Northern Lehigh and Saucon Valley got the job done and watch out for Palmerton in this league. I know everyone is focused on Wilson and Northern Lehigh, but the Bombers got my attention with that rout of Notre Dame.

In the MVC, Lehighton won a thriller and Pocono West beat a struggling Kutztown team. Otherwise, the league had a tough night, although Pleasant Valley was hardly embarrassed by Wyoming Valley West.

In Jersey, Phillipsburg lost in what looked like a thriller. Bob Stem has started seasons 0-2 before. His Becahi teams sometimes started off slow when they were playing those brutal nonleague and sometimes out-of-state games to fill out their schedule back in the days of a five-team East Penn Conference. But those Golden Hawks teams usually regrouped and I have no doubt P'burg will do as well.

I haven't added up all the predictions yet, but it seemed like a decent night other than Palisades sticking it to me again.

And here's an early prediction for December: North Penn and Liberty will meet in a rematch of their classic 2005 state semifinal. Both teams look awfully strong again.

I'm off to Princeton Saturday night for a key game for Lehigh. Here's hoping there's no overtime or yours truly is in trouble.

Trackbacks

Current Comments

When Carl Smartschan mentioned how all the other Emmaus fall teams are doing, did he happen to mention the state ranked volleyball team? Volleyball gets little attention in the media and several top ten state ranked teams are right here in the Lehigh Valley, including Emmaus.

Posted By: Mary Lukiewski | Sep 15, 2007 10:54:38 AM

Yes, I remember distinctly that I did mention the girls volleyball team that night.

Posted By: Carl Smartschan | Oct 15, 2009 10:13:12 PM

Leave A Comment

NOTE: Please express your opinions in a civil and respectful manner. Insensitive, inflammatory and derogatory comments will be removed at our discretion.